Today at the Open: The Master's Magic

The 2019 U.S. Poker Open is officially underway. From February 13-23, the world’s best will compete across ten high stakes events for the USPO Championship. The USPO trophy, $100,000, and the first High Roller Triple Crown title of 2019 is up for grabs and each day, “Today at the Open” will recap the action and prepare fans for PokerGO‘s final table streams. 

A year ago, Ali Imsirovic wasn’t on the High Roller Triple Crown radar. Now, he’s impossible to miss. Back-to-back wins led to a Poker Masters victory and 2018 ended at the Super High Roller Bowl V final table. While Imsirovic wasn’t able to open his U.S. Poker Open account through the first four events, he filled out the necessary paperwork on Sunday.

Imsirovic bagged the Event #5 $25,000 No Limit Hold’em chip lead, the same event he won in September…

Making his PokerGO debut surrounded by one of the toughest final tables in HRTC history, Imsirovic was a relative afterthought when play began. Mission: Imsirovic turned into Poker Masters Champion and waited for his Super High Roller Bowl shot. He made good on that opportunity in December.

Ali Imsirovic 2.0: New and Improved

With momentum and millions, many in Imsirovic’s position would have been chomping at the bit to open 2019. Insane prize pools were the norm through the first month of the year, but the Poker Masters champion didn’t record a single cash. Because Imsirovic didn’t play, he stayed home and mastered his craft.

Read about that decision here or read this Imsirovic quote about why he think he enjoys studying more than most players:

“Getting the opportunity to actually see yourself surpass certain players you knew to be better than you is very fulfilling.”

That is the quote of a person that takes the utmost satisfaction at working that much harder to continue to turn idols into rivals. That is the magic that allows Imsirovic to continue to pass idols, rivals, and the High Roller Triple Crown competition.

Subscribe to PokerGO now to watch the 2019 USPO live. All ten final tables and early access streams are available exclusively on PokerGO. Follow along, get in the game, and visit PokerGO.com for information.